One year ago, I wrote for the first time for Un-Associated. I wrote about KOD, J. Cole, and a critical part of the human condition – pain. On KOD, J. Cole addresses the thread of pain in his life, both experienced and observed. He shares his personal bouts of coping with pain, mentioning both addiction, and recreational solutions like meditation. All this was done in hopes that the listener is inspired to prevail past his or her own inner demons. But I am not here to talk about KOD or J. Cole – I did that already. I am here to talk about another artist from a neighboring genre that reconciled his own pain by first, putting it to paper, then changing the words on the page to music. His name is Lucky Daye. I’m also here to extol the very genre by which all modern-day music is possible and arguably created from – Rhythm and Blues.
On October 8th, I experienced Lucky Daye in a venue that held 575 people, and yet, his hour and a half set could not have been more intimate. The man can sing – that’s not in question, but to truly be able to connect with your audience and leave them wanting for nothing at the end of the night is no small feat. His white satin button down shirt with safety pins galore was not the only thing open that night – his heart was, and that is his gift – the ease with which the personal becomes public without cheapening the pain that lies within the music. The audacity to be vulnerable and make his feelings – love, longing, loss – accessible, ultimately embracing them all, is his superpower as an artist and performer.
The concept of being vulnerable in music is not unique, but what is unique is his sound, the layering of rhythm, blues and psychedelic funk – a combination of sounds that meld together seamlessly.
Painted is a compilation of experiences that formed the man we now know as Lucky Daye. Call is beautiful in its simplicity as it chronicles an individual who simply wants to be there for his ex, desiring to re-open the lines of communication . Conversely, Paint It is a bittersweet track that has the rhythm and funk layered in the music, but the blues lies in the words – in Daye, observing and trying to talk sense into a man taking for granted a woman that couldn’t deserve his neglect any less. One of the most vulnerable tracks, one that Daye admitted holds his deepest wounds – Love You Too Much, is his reckoning, with the inevitable end of an unhealthy and unreciprocated relationship while still being very much in love and in pain.
There are those who, at the very best, can sympathize with our conditions and what we have gone through. Then, there are those whose hyper-awareness of our past or present pain rest on the fact that they have lived it too. Lucky Daye is the latter, and it is because of that, that seemingly minute difference that he surpasses the status of merely a singer, and enters the realm of an artist.
R&B is the friend that always knows what to say – that has the wisdom to get you through because it has been there – because it knows. Lucky Daye is the vehicle by which our friend is able to meet us where we are at.
